United by Tragedy

Despite being born and raised in America, Narek Mardirosian’s soul is shaken by a genocide carried out overseas generations ago.

Relatives and friends sometimes cry when they speak of how 1.5 million Armenians were killed in the Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1923. And the bustling Armenian American community throughout the Los Angeles area steadfastly remembers that genocide--in fact, unites around it.

“It’s our cause,” Mardirosian, 17, said simply. “It becomes a part of your life. It becomes a part of your soul.”

So today, on the 81st anniversary of the start of the killings, many Armenian Americans will close their markets, bakeries, restaurants and law offices. Thousands will attend special events, including church ceremonies, memorials and peaceful demonstrations, and will also mark the day with private moments of reflection.

Indeed, the genocide remains central to Armenian American lives. It tightly binds most to their ethnic heritage, even as the local community continues to grow and change. And the trauma runs through generations.

Larry Zarian, board chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said his 86-year-old mother, Tamara Zarian, is a genocide survivor who initially fled from Azerbaijan to Iran with an older brother.

“They were running for cover,” said Zarian, a longtime Glendale city councilman and former mayor. “Although she was 7 or 8 years old, she remembers very well.”

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Zarian, like many others, said that such memories, and the desire for today’s Turkish government to officially recognize the extermination of Armenians, unites Armenian Americans.

The widely diverse community in the Southland traces its roots to places like the former Soviet Union, Lebanon, Iran, Syria and even Fresno, an old-time port of entry to the West. The community, its leaders say, while largely close-knit, successful and filled with members whose families have been in the United States for generations, is in the midst of a significant transition.

Estimates of the number of Armenian Americans living in Los Angeles sometimes run higher than 350,000.

The largest concentration is in Glendale, where an estimated 40,000 Armenian Americans live in a total population of about 180,000. Other nearby communities with significant Armenian American populations include Hollywood, North Hollywood, Pasadena, Montebello and Burbank.

Activists and scholars said many of the recent immigrants came seeking opportunities simply unavailable elsewhere.

Some of them were escaping unbearable living conditions in Armenia. A devastating fuel and energy blockade is being enforced by Armenia’s neighbors, economic hardship persists nearly five years after the country declared independence from the former Soviet Union, and war continues in neighboring Nagorno-Karabakh.

For most, Los Angeles was a logical destination because other relatives or friends, some with deep roots in California, already lived in the area. The connections helped in key areas like finding housing and employment.

But for others, the support system, if it existed at all, was not as strong. For these immigrants, according to Richard Hovannisian, a professor of Armenian and Near Eastern history at UCLA, social services are stretched.

“The community is growing very rapidly,” Hovannisian said. “Its resources have not been able to absorb and reach out to immigrants the way it could and might have if there weren’t so many immigrants. Its resources are very strained.”

The Armenian Relief Society recorded about 40,000 client visits last year at its offices in Glendale, Hollywood, Montebello, Pasadena and San Francisco--up from about 15,000 in 1990.

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“It’s getting worse and worse,” said Sona Zinzalian, director of social services at the relief society. “Our goal is to help these people. We want these people to be self-sufficient.”

Financial hurdles aren’t the only obstacles.

In Glendale, for example, police recorded 72 hate crimes--mainly name calling or ethnic slurs painted on walls--during the past 10 years. Of those, 25 were against Armenian Americans.

The impact of the immigration of the 1980s and 1990s and other growth has also been felt in schools.

The Glendale Unified School District counts close to 10,000 students, one-third of its student body, as Armenian Americans. An additional 20,000 are enrolled in the massive Los Angeles Unified School District.

In both school districts, many Armenian American students are listed as having limited English proficiency.

In some cases, young people are taking it upon themselves to maintain their culture.

The Armenian Youth Federation, which also emphasizes ethnic awareness, has members from 9 to 26. The group is one of many that try to shape lives and attitudes through athletics, lectures, summer camp and dances.

In many ways, several federation members said, Armenian American youths are no different from others. They must cope with gangs, drugs, gender roles, the influence of family and friends, education issues and fitting into the mainstream. What they find sets them apart is the genocide.

“It’s a live issue for us,” said Stepan Haytayan, 22.